If there was a team that could repeat, it was this one. Led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks are as good as any team in the league. They know how to win in the postseason. They’re deep, experienced and everything else you'd want in a championship contender.

Even so, they lost. They lost because there are other powerhouses in the NHL. They lost because parity and the salary cap mean that one team will never be so much better than the others that it’ll consistently make it to the Stanley Cup finals.

There’s no shame in losing to the Los Angeles Kings. There's also no reason to make dramatic changes this summer, but there is some business to handle, starting here:

1. Sign Kane and Toews to gigantic contract extensions

Say this about the Blackhawks: They maximized their time when Kane and Toews were at their most affordable. They won a Stanley Cup while the two were still on their entry-level deals. The Hawks won another when they were making $6.3 million each per season. That's not particularly cheap, but certainly under market value. For example, they’re each averaging only half a million more per season than Jordan Eberle.